Acquisitions and Franchise Opportunities

If you're considering acquiring an existing business, how do you know how much to pay? Will the business provide you with the income you need three years down the road? A business plan is the perfect tool to use when you assess whether you should buy a business or let the opportunity go by.

In fact, many sellers will create a selling memorandum, which is really a business plan in reverse, to fully acquaint you with their business and convince you that the opportunity is a good one. You can use this as a starting point for creating your own plan for the future.

Similarly, deciding whether to purchase a franchise is a serious issue. By becoming a franchisee, you agree to conform to a wide variety of requirements whose nature and extent will depend on the particular franchise you acquire. A business plan provides the framework for considering whether the benefits of holding a franchise outweigh the associated costs and restrictions. The plan is the perfect tool for modeling how your business will perform as a member of the franchise. If you're already operating as an unaffiliated business, you can compare your current operations to the costs and opportunities presented by joining the franchisor.